China to Boost Solar Power Goal 67% as Smog Envelops Beijing

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China plans to increase its goal for
solar-power installations in 2015 by 67 percent to reduce
reliance on fossil fuels blamed for greenhouse gases and as smog
in Beijing reached record hazardous levels this month.

The world’s biggest emitter of carbon-dioxide plans to
raise the solar target to 35 gigawatts by 2015 from 21 gigawatts
set last year, boosting demand for manufactures that suffer from
slowing sales in Europe, Shi Dinghuan, the counselor of China’s
State Council and the president of Chinese Renewable Energy
Society, said today by phone.

“We’ve got more pressure to save energy and reduce
emissions as smog worsens due to pollution,” he said. China
will use renewable energy to cut coal consumption and support
the domestic industry amid U.S. and Europe anti-dumping charges
against Chinese solar products, Shi said.

The increase in solar installations first appeared in the
Economic Observer today. Shares of solar-device maker China
Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings Ltd. rose 2.1 percent in
Hong Kong. The new target would increase solar power
installations by more than five-fold from 6.5 gigawatts of
capacity as of the end of last year, according to Bloomberg New
Energy Finance data.

“China always wants to increase solar power capacity,”
said Wang Xiaoting, a Beijing-based analyst at New Energy
Finance, a unit of Bloomberg LP. “The nation adjusts the
targets from time to time with consideration for practical
factors such as related policies and construction conditions.”

Slower Demand

Chinese manufacturers led by Suntech Power Holdings Co. and
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. faced weaker demand and a supply
glut that has driven panel prices down by 25 percent in the past
year.

The U.S. last year imposed tariffs on Chinese-made solar
cells and the European Union began probing whether Chinese
manufacturers are selling cells and panels below cost in
European markets.

Earlier this month, the Chinese government said it planned
to install 10 gigawatts of solar capacity this year. China
allocated 13 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in subsidies for
domestic solar project developers in 2012, the official Xinhua
News Agency reported last month.

Interest in renewable energy is getting a boost as Beijing
warned the city’s 20 million people to prepare for at least
another day of smog. Officials closed some factories and ordered
government cars off the road as pollution remained at hazardous
levels.

Premier Wen Jiabao said China should promote energy-saving
and reduce emissions to cut pollution, the official Xinhua News
Agency reported. The smog has remained dense after hitting
record levels on Jan. 12.